PM Modi in Kalol takes on Kharge’s Ravan jibe, Congress leaders compete to abuse him

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday attacked the Congress party for ‘competing to abuse the PM of the country’, and ‘losing its mental balance’ due to defeats in elections. Campaigning for the BJP for the second phase of the Gujarat Assembly elections in the Vejalpur area of Kalol under the state’s Panchmahal district, Modi talked about the remark made by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.

Pointing at the jibes made by Kharge a day before, Modi said, “One Congress leader recently said, ‘We will show Modi his aukaat’… Do we have any aukaat? We are sevaks… Now, the Congress high command has sent its new president… I know him and respect him a lot. But he has been tutored to say things… But they don’t know that Gujarat is the land of Ram Bhakts. They told him to come to Gujarat and call Modi ‘a Ravan with 100 heads’…We know that Congress doesn’t even accept the identity of Lord Ram. They have no faith in the Ram temple in Ayodhya and have even refuted the existence of Ram Setu but they brought out the Ravan from the Ramayana.”Modi added it’s no surprise that ‘they have used such abusive words for me’. Modi said, “But, what surprises me is that the Congress party and their top leaders never officially express their apologies… Yes, one could have said things in a fit of rage but an apology could follow… However, the Congress party thinks it is their right to insult the Prime Minister of the country and downgrade the PM. If they had any faith in democracy, they would not have done this. But their faith is not in democracy but in one family”.The prime minister said Congress leaders compete with each to amplify the attacks on him. “There is a competition in Congress to abuse Modi. Every leader is aiming to make the abuses bigger, more frequent, and more acerbic… Recently, one of them said Modi will die a dog’s death, another said Modi will die like Hitler, then they were waiting for Pakistan to kill me… and then one says, ‘If I get a chance, I will kill Modi’… They call me Ravan, rakshas (demon), and cockroach… I am the son of Gujarat. Is this insult to Modi, whom you have created and raised, not your own insult? The Congress is not aware that the more muck you (Congress) throw, you will see those many more lotuses blooming.

At the event in Kalol—on the foothills of the Pavagadh Temple dedicated to Goddess Kali—Modi invoked her blessings and called December 1 an important day in history as India takes over the presidency of the G20 summit. Modi said, “Today, India has taken over the Presidency of the G20, which is a group of countries of the world, who are economically reliant… It will add fragrance to the gold India has. The G20 group leads 75 per cent of the trade of the world. Is this not a moment of pride for all Indians? We have to take this opportunity to make India reach the top.”

Adding that the stretch of Vadodara-Halol-Kalol-Godhra-Dahod will soon become an integral part of Make in India, Modi blamed the Congress for creating an ‘ecosystem of import and commissions’ and depriving employment opportunities in the country. Modi said, “There was a time when even the smallest of things had to be imported from abroad. The Congress had created an ecosystem to import everything, earn commissions from it, run their own lives, and leave the country to its fate. Had this (Make in India campaign) been done 30-40 years earlier, India’s employment opportunities would have been at a different level today… They (Congress) imported expensive items of substandard quality… The country never became self-reliant due to this.”

Modi also accused the Congress of “taking pleasure” in the insult of places of faith and worship. He said, “Earlier, seeing the Pavagadh temple without a shikhar would be a heart-wrenching experience. It was a 500-year-old insult. I had vowed to change the situation… Was Pavagadh not in existence during the Congress rule? But they were not able to see the strength (of the shaktipeeth) which I could see. We launched a campaign to end the insults on Gujarat’s faith… Congress party enjoys the insults to faith and worship… I don’t t know what is wrong with them. You can lose elections but it cannot become the reason for you to lose your mental balance… Even we used to lose our deposits earlier but we never behaved like this.”